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MOVIE REVIEW
While not exactly a golden rule, it is known fact that if a movie does well in the box office, chances are good that it will be followed by sequel and more often than not, we’ve come to expect that the sequel won’t measure up to the original. Add a third movie to the mix and you’re just asking for trouble. With animated movies, the expectations are often even lower. (Is anyone really surprised that the Ice Age movies keep getting worse?) But sometimes, as is the case with the Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies, we’re pleasantly surprised. Now you can add How to Train Your Dragon to that short list too.

One thing that DreamWorks Animation has understood about this series is that the story comes first, the hijinks come later. The very first Dragon movie proved that way back in 2010 with a strong story and with each chapter that has come after it, that story just keeps getting better. What started out as a cute kid’s story has become a powerful trilogy. We've seen these chara…

This Day in Pop Culture for October 6

Kid's Messiest Game Show Premieres
Perhaps America’s messiest game show, Double Dare, aired for the first time on this day in 1986. For years, Double Dare was a Nickelodeon staple. It was the network’s first game show and also the longest-running. Right after the show premiered, it had tripled its viewership and became the most-watched original daily program on cable TV. Hosted by Marc Summers, the original series continued through February 6, 1993. For a brief time, there was a Family Double Dare show that aired on FOX from April 3 to July 23, 1988. The show was revived as Double Dare 2000 and was hosted by Jason Harris from January 22 to November 10, 2000. Then in April of 2012, Nickelodeon Suites Resort in Orlando, Florida announced that the show would be revived again, but as a nightly stage show called Double Dare Live and ran at the hotel until it was re-branded as a Holiday Inn Resort in 2016. A Double Dare Reunion Special aired on Nick at Nite on November 23, 2016 and in July of this year Summers stated that yet another new version of the show could be brought back to the small screen once again.

(Wikimedia)

First Movie with Synchronized Dialogue is Released
The first featured-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue was The Jazz Singer which was released on this day in 1927 which lead to the decline of silent films. Directed by Alan Crosland and recorded with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, the movie starred Al Jolson. The film was based on the play, The Day of Atonement by Samson Raphaelson. The story is about Jackie, a young Jewish man who is thrown out of his home by his father for singing in local beer garden which went against his heritage and family’s wishes. To hide the fact that he was Jewish, Jackie decides to go blackface and hides his ancient with a southern one. While this movie was a large hit, the 1980 remake (sans blackface) that starred Neil Diamond, Lucie Arnaz, and Laurence Olivier was a huge flop. However, like Xanadu, the soundtrack album did very well.

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MOVIES
It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since everything was awesome, at least in the world of Lego as seen in the original Lego Movie. Since then Lego-themed movies have been released, none of which have been as popular, lucrative or received as much praise from critics as the original.

Now the gang is back in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part but everything appears to be less awesome as Bricksburg has become Apocalypseburg and is getting worse when this world is threatened by Lego Duplo invaders from outer space. Still, just like is real life, Legos can always rebuild.

It takes a lot of physical and CGI Legos to create a movie. Here is a breakdown on how that looks:

2: The number of characters Chris Pratt, Stephanie Beatriz and Alison Brie play in the film. (Pratt plays Emmet and Rex Dangervest, Beatriz plays General Mayhem and Sweet Mayhem and Brie plays Unikitty and Ultrakitty)

3: The number of times Will Arnett has voiced the role of Batman in a Lego movie.

TVAmerica’s Got Talent: The Champions brought back 50 of the best acts from the different world versions of the show to compete one more time for the chance to win a really impressive (or tall) trophy, $25,000 cash and pretty incredible bragging rights. The two-hour presentation began with an hour full of filler of past acts, silly bits and interviews with the dozen remaining acts hoping to win.

Soon the 12 was whittled down to five including ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer, sand artist Kseniya Imonova, card magician Shin Lim, singer Cristina Ramos and comedian Preacher Lawson. And during the show’s last five minutes of the show the winner was revealed.